Gen AI is an expensive way to create text and images. Right now, much of that cost is being subsidized and hidden, but it will eventually need to be paid. Because charging the actual cost will likely negate most of the value proposition of genAI, the companies that run the big models are focused on altering the social and economic context so that there are big external costs to opting out. E.g. getting companies to fire staff makes it difficult to pivot back away from AI because hiring and training replacement staff can be difficult and costly. Hence, the huge rush and hysterical sense of urgency around adoption: the demand for profitability is an approaching tidal wave, and they need to lock entire industries in before that wave hits.

That's why resistance IN THE PRESENT counts for a great deal. Right now, we have the approaching wave in our favor, and they're counting on cultivating enough dependence before it hits that we'll have no choice to accept the actual costs. The closer they get to locking society into dependence on hyperscale AI systems, the more difficult it becomes to opt out of even the plainly dystopian uses of the technology. And the longer we "wait and see," the less say we may ultimately have in how this technology shapes our society.

Here's a rare positive story—Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer. Eliminate it altogether.

"In 2021, there were no cervical cancer cases diagnosed in women under 25 for the first time since records began in 1982"

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/australia-set-for-world-first-cervical-cancer-elim

#News #GoodNews #Cancer #Health #Australia #WomensHealth #Vaccination

Archaeologists Discover an Ancient Roman Snack Bar in the Ruins of Pompeii

https://www.openculture.com/2020/12/archaeologists-discover-an-ancient-roman-snack-bar-in-the-ruins-of-pompeii.html

The Largest Roman Mosaic Found in London in 50 Years
In the heart of London, archaeologists working on Southwark Street uncovered the largest Roman mosaic found in the city in half a century. Discovered in 2022 by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), this mosaic dates back to the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD and was likely part of a grand Roman dining room known as a triclinium.

👉 Stunning Ancient Mosaics Discovered Beneath Modern Cities (7 Photos): https://streetartutopia.com/2025/09/07/ancient-mosaic/

Zohran Mamdani is left (even by NZ standards) .

MSM LIED about him because they're owned/controlled by the rich.

The President lied about him.

The richest man on Earth lied about him.

He won anyway because he's LEFT even by NZ standards

Do you get it yet Labour? MSM National the rich will lie about your policies no matter what so be LEFT get elected.

#NZpol

This extraordinary wooden cabinet/cupboard has been preserved by the 79 AD eruption of Mt Vesuvius when the explosion's heat turned it into charred wood. It was recovered with all its contents during excavations in 1937 next to the Bicentennial House in Herculaneum. Inside it, as reported in the Excavation Diaries, cups, glasses, jugs and pots were found, an exceptional testimony of home life from Herculaneum.

Antiquarium of the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum

#archaeohistories